Donald Trump calls golf-cheating allegations 'a terrible thing to say about people, especially me'
Among the three people quoted leveling the allegations was rock musician Alice Cooper.
"The worst celebrity golf cheat? I wish I could tell you that. It would be a shocker. I played golf with Donald Trump one time. That's all I'm going to say," Cooper reportedly told Q magazine in 2012.
But the Republican presidential front-runner denied ever playing golf with Cooper and said it was an especially mean thing to say about him. Trump owns a number of luxury golf courses and prides himself in his golf skills.
"I've never played with Alice Cooper," Trump told Terris. "That's a terrible thing to say about people, especially me."
The other two people who accused Trump of cheating in the story were Mark Mulvoy, the former managing editor of Sports Illustrated, and sportswriter Rick Reilly. Mulvoy told The Post that Trump admitted to frequent rule-breaking while they played together in the 1990s.
"Ahh, the guys I play with cheat all the time," Mulvey said Trump told him after moving his golf ball. "I have to cheat just to keep up with them."
But Trump said he doesn't cheat and he doesn't even know Mulvey.
"I don't even know who he is," he said. "I don't drop balls, I don't move balls. I don't need to."
However, the real-estate developer did recognize Reilly, who claimed Trump is "an 11 on a scale of one to 10" when it comes to breaking the rules during golf games. Some of the alleged indiscretions: writing down inaccurate scores, "raking in" putts, and taking the "world's first gimme chip-in."
Needless to say, Trump is not a fan of Reilly.
"I always thought he was a terrible writer," he told Terris. "I absolutely killed him, and he wrote very inaccurately. I would say that he's a very dishonest writer."
Golf plays heavily into Trump's personal brand. He took time off the campaign trail at the end of July to watch the Women's British Open, which was held at the Trump Turnberry, for example, and he once responded to attacks from presidential rival Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) by trashing the lawmaker's golf game.
"Recently, Rand Paul called me and asked me to play golf. I easily beat him on the golf course and will even more easily beat him now, in the world in the politics," Trump said in a lengthy statement after Paul accused him of being a fake conservative. "Senator Paul does not mention that after trouncing him in golf I made a significant donation to the eye center with which he is affiliated."
In his own lengthy statement responding to Trump's attack, a top Paul strategist said Trump had the home-field advantage during the game in question.
"While he appreciates Donald's golf skills, I will note that [the game] was on his home course that he plays often," said Doug Stafford, the Paul strategist. "And he does sincerely appreciate Donald's generosity to the eye clinic. In fact he has mentioned it often."
Paul's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider inquiring about whether he felt Trump played by the rules during their game together.